In ousting and arresting Nicolás Maduro, US president Donald Trump wants the political gains of fighting a war — without actually having to fight one. Whereas fascists and imperialists know that war requires real combat, Trump seems unwilling or unable to go that far, not least because he is weak at home, writes historian and author Timothy Snyder.

Journalist Veronika Munk reviews Hungary’s political developments on the road to the April election, from campaign infighting and Viktor Orbán’s press limits to new Budapest candidates, the Beneš decrees row with Slovakia, the government's U-turn on Venezuela, and the death of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr.

The Venezuelan people themselves must decide their country's future through free and fair elections — democracy cannot be delivered on the tip of a bayonet, writes MEP Hilde Vautmans of Renew Europe.

Across Europe, mayors and local councillors are facing a disturbing rise in harassment, threats, disinformation, and even physical violence. These aren’t isolated incidents — they are a growing pattern. And they’re not 'just politics'. They are deliberate attempts to silence, intimidate, and push people out of public life, warns the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.

A French banker inside Euroclear, who flew to Russia 155 times for "private" reasons, allegedly tried to connect the company's CEO, Valérie Urbain, with Russian spies and threatened her when she declined, according to an investigation by EUobserver, Humo, De Morgen, and Dossier Center.

Today, we kick off an anniversary campaign to convince new supporting members to join EUobserver's mission of providing the information citizens need to safeguard EU democracy.